After a month of mass produced African lagers, we finally had a chance to visit a local craft brewery. Crafty Dee’s, here in Dar es Salaam, is Tanzania’s first craft brewery, and one of Africa’s most awarded too. The beer was a welcomed improvement, and the food was delicious. 🍻 -SπŸ‡ΉπŸ‡Ώ

Short stops to break up the long days on the road

To break up the long days on the road, we had several short stops for tours: a rubber farm in Malawi; a coffee plantation in Tanzania; and in Zanzibar, a tour of Stone Town (the capital) and a spice farm. -J πŸ‡²πŸ‡ΌπŸ‡ΉπŸ‡Ώ

The Malawi rubber farm

The Tanzania coffee plantation

Tour of Stone Town, Zanzibar, and its markets

Zanzibar spice farm

More photos can be found at: www.icloud.com/sharedalb…

Put a bird on it. πŸ˜‰

Roadkill fines in Mikumi National Parkβ€”listed in USD, not local currency. -S πŸ‡ΉπŸ‡Ώ

πŸŽ₯ Recapping our 24-day overlanding safari of Africa

Here’s a video recap of what we thought about our 24-day overlanding safari tour of Africa. What did we like? Dislike? Would we do it again? Find out below.

And here’s a short montage video someone on our tour made for his studentsβ€”focusing on the first few days of the East Africa portion of our tourβ€”using a 360 camera.

And if you missed it, here’s more on the overlanding truck we used:

https://adventuresaroundthe.world/2025/01/07/a-little-bit-about-the.html

-S πŸ‡ΏπŸ‡¦πŸ‡§πŸ‡ΌπŸ‡ΏπŸ‡ΌπŸ‡ΏπŸ‡²πŸ‡²πŸ‡ΌπŸ‡ΉπŸ‡Ώ

πŸŽ₯ Recapping our wildlife experiences in Africa

A video discussion of our wildlife experiences in Africa. Did we see everything we wanted to? What were the game drives like? Find out in the video below. -S πŸ‡ΏπŸ‡¦πŸ‡§πŸ‡ΌπŸ‡ΏπŸ‡ΌπŸ‡ΏπŸ‡²πŸ‡²πŸ‡ΌπŸ‡ΉπŸ‡Ώ

A story in three photos… πŸ˜‚

-S πŸ‡ΏπŸ‡²

🎢 …Everybody was kung fu fighting… 🎢

Some vervet monkeys playing around our campsite at Lake Malawi on New Years Day. It was fun to watch these two chase and wrestle around; should have stayed longer to get more shots!

The monkeys of Jozani Forest

On our full day in Zanzibar, we visited the Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park and Biosphere Reserve. The park is famous for its monkeys, specifically the endangered and endemic Zanzibar Red Colombus Monkey, but also the Blue Monkey. It was an up close and intimate encounter…minus all the tourists, of course. -SπŸ‡ΉπŸ‡Ώ

You can find other photos here: www.icloud.com/sharedalb…

Elephants peacefully snacking on some grass in Mikumi National Park in Tanzania. -S πŸ‡ΉπŸ‡Ώ

A little bit about the overlanding vehicle we’ve been traveling in the last three weeks through Africa. -S

Auto-generated description: A bus interior showing rows of empty, gray-covered seats and windows with emergency exit signs.

Auto-generated description: A spacious, upholstered vehicle interior with multiple cushioned seats and large windows, featuring safety signs and emergency exits.

Auto-generated description: Inside a bus with empty seats, sunlight illuminates the interior.

Next Zoom Call - Sun, Jan 12, 2025

Join us for our next Zoom call! We will have finally finished our 24-day African Tour and we’d love to share our updates and impressions, tell some stories, and see all of you.

Scheduled for 10:00 am Arizona Time (12:00 pm EST) on Sunday January 12, 2025 (it will be 8 pm our time).

Here is the link:

zoom.us/j/92084755972

In the meantime, we’ve included some fighting zebras to catch your interest 😁

-J πŸ‡ΏπŸ‡²

It wasn’t on the itinerary per se, but I managed to do both Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti on this trip! πŸ»πŸ˜‰ -S πŸ‡ΉπŸ‡Ώ

Uncomfortable in Africa

The primary constant during our time in Africa has been the feeling of being uncomfortable. I’m referring to physical discomfort, not the discomfort that comes from traveling as a privileged person in a land that lacks it (we’ll write about that another time).

Humid beyond belief. Hot, intense sun. Omnipresent insects, especially at night in our tent or room. Bumpy roads. Long drives. Constant sweat. Frequent rain. Fleeting internet access. Sporadic electricity. Unnecessary delays. Cold showers. Warm beer. Unending stickiness. Long lines. Terrible toilets. Ubiquitous mud. Reliable unreliability.

Africa is a challenge because everything is a bit uncomfortable. Everything.

It’s an adventure, not a vacation, and so this was expected. But it also gives us a glimpse into daily life on this continent. We will eventually return to air conditioning, roads that don’t resemble minefields, and bug-free hotel roomsβ€”while the locals continue with life as-is.

-S πŸ‡ΉπŸ‡ΏπŸ‡²πŸ‡ΌπŸ‡ΏπŸ‡²

We did a sunset game drive a few days ago, but a rainy night made for a less than stellar experience. But the two highlights were a (rather vicious) zebra fight and elephants playing the mud. The sunset was pretty nice too! -S πŸ‡ΏπŸ‡²

Many of our meals on this African tour are made by our guide/chef from the side of the Nomad truck. We have been pleasantly surprised by how tasty they have been. Last night in Malawi, some locals joined us and cooked us some of their local dishes, which were delightful. -J πŸ‡²πŸ‡Ό

When we renewed our ASU football season tickets in early 2024, it was beyond our wildest dreams that we’d be listening to a radio broadcast of ASU going into a second overtime of a playoff game while we laid in our bed, in the dark, under a mosquito net in Malawi, fighting off swarms of bugs. πŸ‡²πŸ‡Ό

Rainstorms have been a constant thing here in Africa. Here is yet another storm approachingβ€”this one brewing over Lake Malawi earlier this morning. We managed to get the Nomad truck up the hill and out of the campground before it hit. -S πŸ‡²πŸ‡Ό

Happy New Year from Malawi! -J πŸ‡²πŸ‡Ό

We’ve made it to Malawi, which involved a two hour delay at the border crossing. Today is a long transport dayβ€”which apparently includes a pretty sketchy road (or off-road route, as we understand it) that we need to complete before dark. With luck, we’ll celebrate New Years near Malawi Lake.